We recently connected with Derrick Mullen and have shared our conversation below.

Derrick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I think for me it was a matter of my gifts getting aligned with my ambition or let me say purpose. Once I identified my purpose, I had more ambition to learn this craft called “Filmmaking”. I guess if I had identified this sooner, maybe I could have speed up this process by going to film school. There, I would have established more of the skills firsthand and developed relationships that may have opened a few doors faster. The skills that have been essential for me is my innate ability as an artist. Today we call them creatives. Most creatives do very well with imagination and a feeling of free form, effect. They typically see things in a way most don’t. I can’t say that there are or were anything that would keep me from learning more. We should always be in the state of learning.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am an independent filmmaker based out of Atlanta, Georgia. I currently have 3 movies that I have filmed and produced on streaming platforms (Amazon, Tubi, Roku) etc. I originally started out on this journey by capturing footage of me and my friends grilling and just chopping it up using my iPhone. I would then edit that footage into mini episodes on my phone and post them to YouTube. The series is known as Chefn’ in Atlanta. We built a little following. Then one day I decided to record stage plays for my friend Kyria Williams back in St. Louis. She and her husband LeConte, toured faith based stage plays throughout the midwest.

They were very inspiring. So inspiring that I thought more people needed to see these messages on a bigger platform. I proposed to them to take one of those stage plays and change it into a screenplay and make a movie. Kyria and LeConte were already impressed with what I was able to do with just using an iPhone and stepped out on faith.

In 2017, we leaped into the film industry, converting their stage play “The Wake Up Call”, into a full-length feature film. “The Wake Up Call” was an official selection at the International Christian Film Festival and also won best faith-based film by the Church Stars Network. After the overwhelming success of our inaugural film, we began focusing entirely on film production. The Wake Up Call became our very first film that we produced and from there we produced A New Husband for Christmas and our most recent film The Gift of Grace. What I am most proud of is our new company that the three of us formed together, Fruit Bearing Studios. Presenting films in expectancy of bearing good fruit for the Kingdom of God that inspires growth, hope, faith, and love.

I’m giving you the Clift’s Notes version of this story. When I am not filming, I am producing commercial projects under my Mullen Group Productions brand as well as creating wedding films and studying my craft.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think there are a few things I would like to point out; considering I am in the faith based market. I feel it is important to live the life I am telling stories about. My films are about Growth, Hope Faith and Love. My walk with Jesus is a big part of that. I choose not to compromise my relationship, morals or belief for a paycheck. Also, I feel we create stories with characters that our audience can resonate with. In movies today, there is a lot of fluff. Not everyone is a doctor or lawyer earning six figures living the life of luxury. Nor is everyone hooked on drugs or banging guns and incarcerated. Sure there are stories to be told like that but those are not the ones we are telling. We are seeing reviews of people who have recommitted their lives to Christ. People who have giving their marriage another try. We are truly seeing lives being transformed from these stories being told through film and we have the hundreds of reviews to back it up.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Yes, my business started as a side hustle

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fruitbearingstudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fruitbearingstudios/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derrick.mullen
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-mullen-3166671/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mullengroup
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPfhTlhV6TRT7f_z5nZBZ2Q

Image Credits
Movies Posters Credit Derrick Mullen BTS image Shalese Johnson